The umbilical cord of an infant is a tubular structure that connects the fetus with the placenta. The cord exchanges waste products, oxygen and nutrients between the mother and the fetus. Upon the baby's birth, the umbilical cord has traditionally been severed by the placement of two clamps at two points along the cord, and then cutting the cord between the clamped points. A variety of umbilical cord clamps are well known in the art. Exemplary clamps are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,247,852 to Schneider, U.S. Pat. No. 4,716,886 to Schulman, U.S. Pat. No. 5,423,831 to Nates, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,608,382 to Webb. (These references, and all other references cited herein, are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety.)
A critical feature of an umbilical cord clamp is that the clamp must not come off the cord after the cord has been severed. Accordingly, it is necessary for the user to determine that the clamp has been completely closed, thereby minimizing the risk that the clamp will fall off the cord or slip off the end of the severed cord. Thus, there has gone unmet a need for an umbilical cord clamp that comprises a visual display that indicates to the user that the clamp has been completely closed. The present invention provides this and other related advantages.